BELGIUM. 



119 



past year, taken a deep interest in a new enter- 

 prise for the exploration of Central Africa, and, 

 it is said, was preparing to accompany it at the 

 time when he was seized with his last illness. 



BAVARIA, a kingdom in Germany. The 

 reigning sovereign is King Ludwig II., born 

 August 25, 1845, succeeded to the throne on 

 the death of his father, Maximilian II., March 

 10, 1864. The grandfather of the king, Lud- 

 wig I., born August 25, 1786, is still living. 

 He abdicated the throne on March 21, 1848. 

 The Constitution of Bavaria dates from May 

 25, 1818, and modifications were introduced in 

 1848-'49. 'The Legislature consists of two 

 Houses. The Upper House (the " Reichsrfith," 

 or Councillors of the realm) comprises the 

 princes of the royal family, the crown dignita- 

 ries, the two archbishops, the heads of certain 

 noble families, one bishop, and one Protestant 

 clergyman, appointed by the king ; and an un- 

 limited number of other members appointed by 

 the crown. The Lower House, or Chamber of 

 Deputies, consists of deputies of the towns, of 

 the universities, of certain religious corporations, 

 and of the rural districts. To be a voter, it is 

 required to be twenty-five years of age, and to 

 be rated at a minimum of ten florins. 



The area of the kingdom is 28,485 square 

 miles. The population was, in 1861, 4,689,837, 

 and in 1864, 4,807,440. The number of Roman 

 Catholics is estimated at about 3,360,000; that 

 of Protestants (Lutheran, Reformed, and United 

 Evangelical) at 1,360,000; that of Jews at 

 70,000. The capital of Munich had, in 1864, a 

 a population of 167,054. Next to it in popula- 

 tion, are Nurenberg, with 70,492 inhabitants; 

 Augsburg, 4-9,332; Wurzburg, 41,082. The 

 budget of the kingdom is calculated for the 

 lengthened term of six years, which counts as 

 a financial period. The estimated receipts and 

 expenditures for one year of this financial period 

 are 46,720,597 florins. The public debt in 

 September, 1864, was 337,833,467 florins. The 

 army, on the peace footing, consisted, in 1865, 

 of 67,012 men; on the war footing, it comprises 

 205,668 men. On the part the Bavarian Gov- 

 ernment took in the political questions of Ger- 

 Many, see GERMANY. 



BELGIUM. The reigning sovereign is King 

 Leopold II., born April 9, 1835, succeeded his 

 father, Leopold I., in December, 1865. Heir 

 apparent, Prince Leopold, born June 12, 1859. 

 The Council of Ministers is composed as fol- 

 lows : Foreign Affairs, Ch. Rogier (1861) ; Justice 

 V. Tesch (1827) ; Finances, H. J. W. Frere 

 (1861) ; Public Works, J. E. Van der Stichelen ; 

 War, Lieut.-Gen. Baron Chazal (1859) ; Interior, 

 A. Van der Peereboom (1861). Belgian Min- 

 ister at Washington, Maurice Delfosse (1865) ; 

 American Minister at Brussels, H. S. Sandford 

 (1861). The area is 11,313 square miles; the 

 population (Dec. 31, 1863), 4,893,021. Four 

 cities have more than 100,000 inhabitants: 

 Brussels, 184,932; Ghent, 122,900; Antwerp, 

 120,444; Liege, 101,710. In the budget for the 

 year 1865, the receipts amounted to 159,012,790 



thalers, and the expenditures to 154,375,271 

 thalers. Public debt, on May 1, 1865, 626,- 

 775,514 francs. It is paid off" gradually by. the 

 annual surplus of income over expenditure, and 

 the operations of the sinking fund, or "caisse 

 d'amortissements. The Belgian army, accord- 

 ing to the latest accounts, comprised 86,272 

 men, 7,099 horses, and 152 guns. The imports 

 amounted, in 1863, to 616,343,269 francs, and 

 the exports to 533,657,281 francs. The move- 

 ments of shipping during 1863, were as follows : 

 Arrivals, 3,893 vessels, with 712,373 tons (of 

 which there were Belgian vessels, 597, with 

 62,525 tons); clearances, 3949 vessels, with 

 723,975 tons. The merchant navy, on Decem- 

 ber 31, 1863, consisted of 97 vessels, of 27,247 

 tons. 



King Leopold I., the first King of Belgium, 

 died December 14, 1865, and was succeeded by 

 the present king, Leopold II. On December 

 17 the new King took the oath of the Consti- 

 tution, before both houses of the legislature. 

 Some curiosity has been manifested to know 

 whether Leopold II. would express a cordial 

 endorsement of the fundamental principles of 

 the Belgian Constitution. He had been previ- 

 ously charged in English, French, and other 

 papers, with leaning toward a political party, 

 which incessantly denounced the Belgian Con- 

 stitution as an apostacy from Christianity and 

 the Catholic Church, because it guarantees re- 

 ligious liberty and freedom of the press, and 

 other civil rights. This report was, however, 

 emphatically contradicted by the inaugural ad- 

 dress; the professions made by the new king 

 of loyalty to the Constitution being strong and 

 unequivocal. The following passages of the 

 inaugural address are especially remarkable : 



" If I neither promise Belgium a great reign, 

 like that which founded its independence, nor 

 a great king, like him whom we mourn, I at 

 least promise the country a king Belgian in 

 heart and soul, whose whole life belongs to it. 



" The first King of the Belgians to whom Bel- 

 gium has given" birth, I have shared since child- 

 hood all the patriotic emotions of my country. 

 With it I have joyfully followed that national 

 development which fecundises in its bosom all 

 the sources of strength and prosperity. Like 

 it, I love the great institutions which at once 

 guarantee order and liberty, and constitute the 

 most solid basis of the throne. In my thoughts 

 the future of Belgium has always been connected 

 with my own, and I have always considered it 

 with the confidence inspired by the right of a 

 free, honest, and courageous nation, who desires 

 independence, who has known how to achieve 

 and show itself worthy of it, and will be able 

 to preserve it. 



" Gentlemen, during the last thirty-five years 

 Belgium has witnessed the accomplishment of 

 events that in a country of similar extent to 

 ours have rarely been realized by a single gener- 

 ation. But the edifice whose foundations have 

 been laid by the Congress can be raised, and 

 will be raised, still higher. My sympathetic 



